COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 28, 2011) - The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team defended its 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix title by defeating top-ranked Brazil 26-24, 25-20, 25-21 Sunday afternoon in the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix gold-medal match held at the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Macau, China.

The second-ranked Americans have now won the tournament four times, with all four titles occurring in China (1995 in Shanghai, 2001 in Macau, 2010 in Ningbo and 2011 in Macau). Team USA also has World Grand Prix bronze medals to its credit won in 2003 and 2004. Just two days ago Brazil defeated the U.S. 22-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-20 to conclude the World Grand Prix Final Round Pool B on Aug. 26. Both teams had already qualified for the semifinals regardless of the outcome of the pool match.

Brazil, which had not lost during its 13 matches of the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix, was attempting to win World Grand Prix title for a ninth time in the 19th edition of the tournament.

To watch UniversalSports.com video stream of the gold-medal match between USA and Brazil, click here.

Earlier today, Serbia defeated Russia 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 to capture the bronze medal in its first-ever appearance in the FIVB World Grand Prix.

Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas), the most valuable player of the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix, led the American attack with a match-high 16 points with 15 kills and a block. Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) chipped in 12 kills, one block and one ace for 14 points. Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) scored 11 points with 10 kills on 30 attacks and a block. Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) charted three kills, three blocks and an ace for seven points. Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) totaled six kills and a block for seven points. Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) rounded out the scoring with a block.

The U.S. opened the first set with a 9-3 lead, only to have Brazil rally to take the lead at 18-17. The Americans came back from a 21-20 deficit to win 26-24 as the set was tied eight times down the stretch. After 13 ties through 15-all in the second set, the U.S. broke away with a 4-0 run taking a 19-15 advantage and went on to win 25-20 as Larson contributed five kills in the late stages. The U.S. used a 6-0 scoring run to take a 9-4 lead and stretched the advantage to 17-10, but Brazil fought back to within two points at 22-20 to make the Americans fight for the 25-21 victory. Tom scored eight of her 14 points in the third set.

“It is always a challenge to play Brazil team,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “They are the best team in the world. For us, we had to play with a lot of discipline, focus on trying to work together and stick to the game plan. Our team really performed very well today. I am very proud of them, not just for the victory, but in every match played throughout this long tournament our team made improvement. It is very good for us to see that we could perform at our best today when the best was needed.”

Berg provided 19 assists on 86 set attempts as the Americans converted 38.7 percent of their attacks into points with a .311 hitting efficiency (46-9-119) and only nine attack errors. Brazil converted just 32.5 percent of its attacks with a .211 (37-13-114) hitting efficiency.

“Congratulations to both teams, it was a very competitive match,” U.S. Women’s National Team captain Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.) said. “The goal we had in this entire tournament was to get better as a team and I think we did. We are very fortunate and very excited to be here. We are just extremely happy for the progress we made. Macau has been great. The fans were amazing, they really supported our team, so thank you so much for having us, and it was delightful to return to Macau for the Final Round after 2001 and won the champions trophy.”

McCutcheon started Tom and Larson at outside hitter, Akinradewo and Bown at middle blocker, Hooker at opposite and Berg at setter. Davis was the libero for the match. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) was a sub in all three sets, while Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.) subbed into the match in the final two sets.

Team USA held an 8-2 advantage in blocks, along with a 46-37 kill margin. Brazil claimed a 4-2 edge in aces, along with a 15-6 advantage in digs.

“Congratulations to the USA team, they played very, very well,” Brazil head coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes said. “They gave us a lesson of volleyball tonight. I agree with Fabiana that we were weak in our defense and blocking. We managed only two blocks in this entire match, and it is very hard to play as the USA team like this. It is difficult to play against the USA because they play at a very high level and they are very consistent.”

For more information on the U.S. Women's National Team in the FIVB World Grand Prix, visit the team's event page at usavolleyball.org/events/7901.

The U.S. opened the first set with a 3-0 lead on an Akinradewo kill, Hooker block and Brazil error. Team USA extended the lead to 5-1 with Akinradewo tapping over a kill and Bown following with a block. Out of a Brazil timeout, Bown added another block at 6-1. The Americans stretched the lead to 9-3 with a Larson kill and Bown block. Brazil sliced the deficit to 9-5 with an ace. However, Bown served an ace of her own after a Brazil error leading to a Brazil timeout down 11-5. Out of the break Brazil scored five of the next six points to rally within two at 12-10. After a Brazil service error, Tom collected an ace and Larson hammered a kill to push the American lead to 15-10. The U.S. committed consecutive errors to allow Brazil to close to 15-12. After the technical timeout, Brazil collected back-to-back points at 16-14. Brazil tied the set at 17-all with a 3-0 run, then took its first lead at 18-17 on an American attack error. Team USA regained the lead at 20-19 with a kill by Hooker followed by a Bown ace. Brazil reversed the lead to its side at 21-20 with a block. However, Hooker slammed a kill and Brazil hit long to put the Americans back in front 22-21. Team USA ended the set 26-24 with a Hooker kill and Larson winner. Hooker scored a team-high seven points in the set as the Americans scored three blocks and two aces.

Brazil came up with the first two-point cushion of the second set at 5-3. Team USA knotted the set at 6-all with consecutive Brazil errors, then Tom hit cross-court to put the Americans in the lead at 7-6. The teams traded the next 18 points as the U.S. reached the second technical timeout leading 16-15 on a Hooker kill breaking the 13th tie of the set. Out of the break, Hooker put up a block to give the U.S. a two-point cushion at 17-15 leading to a Brazil timeout. Larson added a third and fourth straight points with consecutive kills on Tom’s serve leading to a 19-15 advantage. Brazil answered with consecutive points to cut the gap in half at 19-17. Larson slammed back-to-back kills off the Brazil block to regain a four-point U.S. lead at 22-18. Bown and Tom connected on consecutive overpass kills giving set points at 24-19. Tom ended the set at 25-20 with a kill. Larson scored five key kills in the late stages of the second set, while Tom added five kills.

The U.S. gained a 6-4 lead in the third set with kills from Hooker and Tom around a Bown block. Tom and Hooker added another kill each to go into the first technical timeout leading 8-4 on a 5-0 run. Out of the break Tom added another kill, her third of the set, to push the advantage to 9-4. Out of its timeout, Brazil scored an ace to cut the margin to 9-6. Tom followed a Brazil service error with a kill and block to gain a six-point cushion at 12-6. Brazil scored three unanswered points to close to 13-10. Tom ended the run with a kill and Larson added a block and Brazil hit into the net to extend the U.S. lead to 16-10 at the second technical timeout. Out of the break Larson connected for a kill to increase the lead to 17-10. Brazil ended the 4-0 U.S. run with consecutive points to cut the lead to 17-12. Brazil came back to within three at 19-16 with three unanswered points. Brazil kept charging and moved to two at 21-19 after a U.S. attack error. The U.S. ended the set with a 25-21 victory after Akinradewo and Larson pounded kills. Tom scored eight points in the set, while Hooker provided six points. Team USA scored four blocks in the set.